Twin attacks leave 15 dead in Yemen

At least 15 people have been killed in two attacks across troubled Yemen as tensions rose after army troops entered Azzan, a rebel stronghold in southern Shabwa province.

In the first attack, 11 people were killed after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a military police base in al-Mukalla, in southeast Yemen.

The blast came as government forces hunted al-Qaeda fighters in the south.

A further three fighters were killed in a gunfight which erupted at a security checkpoint in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.

A civilian was also killed during the gunfight which erupted at dawn.

The interior ministry said the shooting were the second such incident in Sanaa in as many days. The attack appears to be retaliation for the army offensive against al-Qaeda.  

Five guards were killed on Friday in clashes that broke out after gunmen attacked the checkpoint outside the palace in Sanaa which the president, who was not there at the time, only uses for meetings.

Friday's attack on the palace came hours after the defence minister, who has vowed to crush fighters active in Yemen, survived an ambush by suspected al-Qaeda fighters in the south.